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Donald Trump expressed incredulity that a woman would hide her choice at the ballot box from her husband, trashing an ad from a Democratic group reminding women that their votes are private.
The ad, released by Vote Common Good and narrated by actor Julia Roberts, shows a woman voting for Kamala Harris, the suggestion being that her vote does not align with her husband’s. “In the one place in America where women still have the right to choose, you can vote any way you want,” Roberts says in the video.
In a meandering call-in conversation with “Fox & Friends” on Saturday morning, Trump criticized both the ad and Roberts.
“I’m so disappointed in Julia Roberts — she’s gonna look back on that and she’s gonna cringe, like, ‘Did I really say that?’ It doesn’t say much about her relationship, but I’m sure she has a great relationship,” he said.
“But the wives and husbands, I don’t think that’s the way they deal. I mean, can you imagine a wife not telling her husband who she’s voting for? You ever hear anything like that?” Trump said. “Even if you have a horrible — if you had a bad relationship, you’re gonna tell your husband. It’s a ridiculous ad, it’s so stupid.”
Polls have shown a stark gender divide among voters, particularly young voters, in the presidential election: A majority of women support Harris over Trump, and Trump has been outperforming Harris among men. In trying to close the gap, Trump’s appeals to women have tended to veer into patronizing, vaguely threatening statements.
The Democratic ad, released this week, has also enraged right-wing influencers, as my colleague Ja’han Jones has pointed out. Some of them have suggested women shouldn’t have the right to vote at all if they vote differently from their husbands.
Trump’s dismay at the suggestion that a woman’s vote is entirely her own does recall at least one instance where he seemed concerned about how someone may vote.